[Daily article] December 1: School for Creative and Performing Arts

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2011-12-01 00:05:20 GMT

90px|Barbara Britton in 1982 performance of The King and I at the
School for Creative and Performing Arts in Cincinnati, Ohio
The School for Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA) is a magnet arts
school in Cincinnati, Ohio. SCPA was founded in 1973 as one of the
first magnet schools in Cincinnati and became the first school in the
country to combine a full range of arts studies with a complete
college-preparatory academic program for elementary through high school
students. The school rose to national prominence in the 1980s, but was
nearly closed in the 1990s following a series of scandals, leadership
struggles, and an arson fire which destroyed the auditorium. Its
reputation recovered in the years that followed and in 2009–10, the
school was featured in the MTV reality series Taking the Stage, filmed
at the school and featuring SCPA students. In 2010 SCPA combined with
the Schiel Primary School for Arts Enrichment to create the first
kindergarten through twelfth grade arts school and first private sector
/ public arts school in the US. Students must audition for admission;
fewer than 20 percent of those who apply each year are accepted. The
newly combined school offers a curriculum designed to prepare students
for professional careers in creative writing, dance, drama, music,
technical theater, and visual art. (more...)
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[Daily article] December 2: Macaroni Penguin

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2011-12-02 00:05:19 GMT

100px|Macaroni Penguin
The Macaroni Penguin is a species of penguin found from the
Subantarctic to the Antarctic Peninsula. One of six species of crested
penguin, it bears a distinctive yellow crest, and the face and
upperparts are black and sharply delineated from the white underparts.
Its diet consists of a variety of crustaceans, mainly krill, as well as
small fish and cephalopods; the species consumes more marine life
annually than any other species of seabird. Numbering up to 100,000
individuals, the breeding colonies of the Macaroni Penguin are among
the largest and densest of all penguin species. After spending the
summer months breeding, penguins disperse into the oceans for six
months; a 2009 study found that Macaroni Penguins from Kerguelen
travelled over 10,000 km (6,200 mi) in the central Indian Ocean. With
about 18 million individuals, the Macaroni Penguin is the most numerous
penguin species. However, widespread decline in populations have been
recorded since the mid 1970s. These factors result in their
conservation status being reclassified as vulnerable. (more...)
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[Daily article] December 3: Tropical Storm Barry (2001)

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2011-12-03 00:05:23 GMT

100px|Tropical Storm Barry
Tropical Storm Barry was a strong tropical storm that made landfall
on the Florida Panhandle during August 2001. The third tropical cyclone
and second named storm of the 2001 Atlantic hurricane season, Barry
developed from a tropical wave that moved off the coast of Africa on
July 24 and tracked westward. The wave entered the Caribbean on July 29
and spawned a low pressure area that organized into Tropical Storm
Barry on August 3. After fluctuating in intensity and track, the system
attained peak winds of 70 mph (110 km/h) over the Gulf of Mexico, and
headed northward before moving ashore on the Gulf Coast. Unlike the
devastating Tropical Storm Allison earlier in the season, Barry's
effects were moderate. Nine deaths occurred, six in Cuba and three in
Florida. As a tropical cyclone, rainfall peaked at 8.9 in (230 mm) at
Tallahassee, and winds gusts topped out at 79 mph (127 km/h). The wave
that would become Barry dropped large amounts of rain across southern
Florida, leading to significant flooding and structural damage.
Moderate flooding occurred throughout the Panhandle, where damage as a
result of high wind gusts was also reported. Barry is estimated to have
caused $30 million (2001 USD, $36.5 million 2008 USD) in damage.
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[Daily article] December 4: Saturn

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2011-12-04 00:05:16 GMT

100px|Saturn, photographed in July 2008
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet
in the Solar System, after Jupiter, with an average radius about nine
times larger than the Earth's. Saturn is named after the Roman god
Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus (the Titan father of Zeus), the
Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani. Saturn's astronomical symbol
(♄) represents the Roman god's sickle. Along with Jupiter, Uranus and
Neptune, Saturn is a gas giant. Together, these four planets are
sometimes referred to as the Jovian planets, meaning "Jupiter-like".
Saturn has a ring system that is divided into nine continuous and three
discontinuous main rings (arcs), consisting mostly of ice particles
with a smaller amount of rocky debris and dust. Sixty-two known moons
orbit the planet; fifty-three are officially named. This does not
include the hundreds of "moonlets" within the rings. Titan, Saturn's
largest and the Solar System's second largest moon (after Jupiter's
Ganymede), is larger than the planet Mercury and is the only moon in
the Solar System to retain a significant atmosphere. (more...)
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[Daily article] December 5: Adenanthos obovatus

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2011-12-05 00:05:18 GMT

100px|A specimen of Adenanthos obovatus photographed in Big Grove,
Albany
Adenanthos obovatus is a shrub of the Proteaceae family endemic to
Southwest Australia. It grows as a many-stemmed spreading bush up to
1 m (3 ft) high, and about 1.5 m (5 ft) across, with fine bright green
foliage. Made up of single red flowers, the inflorescences appear from
April to December, and peak in spring (August to October). The shrub
grows on sandy soils in seasonally wet lowland areas as well as hills
and dunes. It regenerates after bushfire by resprouting from its
underground lignotuber. Pollinators include honeyeaters, particularly
the Western Spinebill, which can access the nectar with its long curved
bill, and the Silvereye, which punctures the flower tube. The most
commonly cultivated Adenanthos species in Australia, it has a long
flowering period and attracts honeyeaters to the garden. It is
harvested for the cut flower industry. (more...)
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1484:

[Daily article] December 6: McDonnell XF-85 Goblin

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2011-12-06 00:05:16 GMT

100px|A McDonnell XF-85 Goblin at the National Museum of the US Air
Force
The McDonnell XF-85 Goblin was an American prototype fighter aircraft
conceived during World War II by McDonnell Aircraft. It was intended to
be carried in and deployed from the bomb bay of the giant Convair B-36
bomber as a parasite fighter. The XF-85's intended role was to defend
bombers from hostile interceptors, a need demonstrated during World
War II. Two prototypes were constructed before the program was
terminated. The XF-85 was a response to a United States Army Air
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_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1060:
Béla I the Champion was crowned king of Hungary.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9la_I_of_Hungary>
1921:
The Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed and then came into force exactly one
year later, establishing the Irish Free State, the first independent
Irish state to be recognised by the British government.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Irish_Treaty>
1989:

[Daily article] December 7: USS Arizona (BB-39)

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2011-12-07 00:05:19 GMT

115px|The detonation of Arizona<span
style="padding-left:0.1em;">'</span>s forward magazine
(artillery)|magazines
USS Arizona was a Pennsylvania-class battleship built for the United
States Navy in the mid-1910s. Commissioned in 1916, the ship remained
stateside during World War I. In 1919 the vessel represented American
interests in the Mediterranean during the Greco-Turkish War. Several
years later, she was transferred to the Pacific Fleet and was assigned
to it for the rest of her career. Arizona spent most of her time
between the wars training, including participation in the annual Fleet
Problems, and aided survivors of 1933 Long Beach earthquake. In 1940,
she joined the Pacific Fleet in its new base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii to
deter the Japanese Empire. During the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
on 7 December 1941, Arizona was bombed, exploded and sank, killing
1,177 officers and crewmen. The next day, the United States declared
war on Japan. Unlike many of the other ships sunk or damaged that day,
Arizona was not repaired. Her wreck still lies at the bottom of Pearl
Harbor, and is the final resting place for the remains of most of those
who died. They are commemorated by the USS Arizona Memorial which
straddles her hull. (more...)
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[Daily article] December 8: Xá Lợi Pagoda raids

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2011-12-08 00:05:18 GMT

110px|Main hall of the Xá Lợi Pagoda
The Xá Lợi Pagoda raids were a series of synchronized attacks on
Buddhist pagodas in the major cities of South Vietnam on August 21,
1963. The raids were executed by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam
Special Forces and combat police, both of which took their orders
directly from Ngo Dinh Nhu, the younger brother of the Roman Catholic
President Ngo Dinh Diem. The Xá Lợi Pagoda, the largest in the South
Vietnamese capital, Saigon, was the most prominent of the temples
raided. Over 1,400 Buddhists were arrested, and estimates of the death
toll and missing ranged up to the hundreds. At first, the Ngo family
claimed that the army had carried out the raids, something their ally
the United States initially believed. However, this was later debunked,
and the incident prompted the US to turn against the regime and begin
exploring alternative leadership options, eventually leading to Diem's
overthrow in a coup. In South Vietnam itself, the raids stoked
widespread anger. Several high-ranking public servants resigned, and
university and high school students boycotted classes and staged
riotous demonstrations, resulting in further mass incarcerations. As
most of the students were from middle-class public service and military
families, the arrests caused further upset among the Ngo family's power
base. (more...)
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[Daily article] December 10: Norwich Market

English Wikipedia Article of the Day <daily-article-l <at> lists.wikimedia.org>
2011-12-10 00:05:16 GMT

100px|Norwich Market, 2009
Norwich Market is an outdoor market consisting of around 200 stalls
in central Norwich, England. Founded in the latter part of the
11th century to supply Norman merchants and settlers moving to the area
following the Norman conquest of England, it replaced an earlier market
a short distance away. It has been in operation on the present site for
over 900 years. By the 14th century, Norwich was one of the largest and
most prosperous cities in England, and Norwich Market was a major
trading hub. In the Georgian era, Norwich became an increasingly
popular destination with travellers, and developed into a fashionable
shopping town. Following the First World War, the local authority began
to systematically buy up all the stalls on the market, eventually
bringing the entire market into public ownership, and the market was
radically redesigned in the 1930s. Stalls were arranged into parallel
rows, and a new City Hall was built along the entire western side of
the marketplace to replace the by now inadequate Guildhall. This new
arrangement survived with few significant changes for the rest of the
20th century. By the 1990s the market was becoming decrepit, and
proposals were made for another radical rebuilding of the area. These
proposals were abandoned in favour of a scheme which replaced the old
stalls with steel units of four stalls each. The rebuilt market was
completed in early 2006, and is one of the largest markets in Britain.
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[Daily article] December 11: Californication (album)

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2011-12-11 00:05:15 GMT

100px|The Red Hot Hili Peppers at Pinkpop Festival in 2006
Californication is the seventh studio album by American rock band Red
Hot Chili Peppers, released on June 8, 1999, on Warner Bros. Records.
Produced by Rick Rubin, Californication saw the return of John
Frusciante, who had previously appeared on Mother's Milk and Blood
Sugar Sex Magik, to replace Dave Navarro as the band's guitarist.
Frusciante's return was credited with changing the band's sound. The
record marked a shift in style from the Navarro era. The album's
lyric's incorporates various sexual innuendos often associated with the
band, but contains more varied themes than previous releases, such as
lust, death, suicide, California, drugs, globalization and travel. The
Chili Peppers' most commercially successful studio release,
Californication has sold over 16 million copies worldwide. The record
produced several hits for the band, including "Otherside",
"Californication" and the Grammy Award-winning "Scar Tissue".
Californication peaked at number three on the U.S. Billboard 200.
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